Tainted
by kdrops123
Summary: Lilith Drera has had a troubling past. The only way to escape it is to go to Camp Half-Blood. Children from a long line of half-bloods shouldn't have powers. O/C and Nico Di Angelo.
1. The Beginning (Part 1)

The cold October day was long over. The sun had already set in the horizon and night fell upon the city of Chicago. Lilith Drera was hastily making her way back to her dorm. Her reading teacher had given her a long lecture about how fast she reads books. He kept accusing her of just reading the summary of the books online, to avoid actually just reading them. Lilith tried to hide her anger. She really had read the book, why had no one believed her? Books just came naturally to her. All subjects did really.

The chilling wind swayed the old tree branches side to side. Their shadows crawled over the old cobbled sidewalk. Lilith tried to avoid looking at them as best as she could; looking only at her feet, where the walkway was. Within the shadows there was movement, the clacking of feet could be heard. Lilith tried her best to ignore one of her biggest fears, the dark. Whenever she would drift into a darkly lit street, she could hear sounds that no one else could hear, see things move that no one else could. People always said that she was just craving attention when she told of what she saw, this is one of the many reasons Lilith walks alone.

The footsteps became louder as Lilith neared her dorm. She walked faster, keeping her head down. _Maybe whatever it is will go away_ she thought. When she was younger, creatures would crawl out of the shadows. She would of course tell her Mother, but she never really cared, about the monsters or about Lilith. That's why she was sent to this boarding school, that's why Lilith was being pursued by an unknown creature.

After what felt like an eternity, Lilith made her way into her dorm's main hall. She looked outside the foggy glass to see what her pursuer looked like. She wiped the fog off with her small hands. In the streak of clear glass, she saw a glowing pair of beady red eyes. Her white eyes trembled as she backed away from the glass and ran to her room. She threw her back pack onto the floor and lodged herself into the corner of her room. In her hands, she held a knife. _Not again, not again, please, not again_ .It had been a while since _this_ monster had visited her. She left her leather boots on and hoped that she would not have to make a hasty get away. _This is why I hate the dark_. Lilith tried to stay alert in her lit up corner. Snarls and hissing could be heard from below her room. The walls were being scratched. She couldn't risk the chance of the monster breaking in and finding her. But she was exhausted, and fell asleep after the first hour.

When she woke, it was morning. The sun was slowing rising onto another day. Lilith rose from her corner and looked out her cold winter. The view of the grass from her second story room couldn't hide the damage. Some of the grass was black; trails of what made the transfiguration were everywhere. She hoped no one would notice the damage. After taking a shower, Lilith went to her nearly empty closet and picked out a blue and white striped long sleeve and a pair of jeans. She always wore the same leather boots her Aunt got for her when she was younger. Every time Lilith put them on she would remember the smiling face of the person who loved her the most. It was quite sad, since Lilith would never see that face again.

Lilith didn't bother to dry her hair; she thought it was a waste of precious energy. She let her long brown hair drip when she left the dorm. The air was chilled with the breath of October, but she didn't let that get to her. She wore a large bulky black jacket to protect her from the cold. The walk from her dorm to her school building was quite a bit of a journey. It was daytime now, so Lilith wasn't afraid. She actually enjoyed the walk. The remaining leaves were stripped from the trees and danced in the chilly air, like ballet dancers. Lilith made a habit of watching from a distance; this included people and nature. She liked nature, but nature didn't necessarily like her back.

She was always first to arrive in the classroom, the teacher would always be out running errands, but Lilith didn't mind. When she got into her Greek mythology class early, she would open up her sketchbook and draw. The poor book was littered with sketches she drew. Some of the pages were crossed out, but not from Lilith's dislike of them. Her fellow students took her sketchbook once and drew all over it; she has still never forgiven them. She could not throw it away. There were more good memories in it than bad.

She often lost track of the time she spent while drawing. When Lilith had finally looked up, she saw that most of the seats were filled and that Mr. Gallo had begun taking attendance.

"Lilith Drera" Mr. Gallo bellowed across the room. His name did associate with the voice of a rooster.

"Here" she said sternly. A dozen heads turned and looked at she, their judgmental eyes followed her moves.

Lilith was always different from the rest of her class. Most of the girls obsessed over make-up and doing their hair. The only thing Lilith ever worried about was how many people were looking at her. Her bright white eyes stood out from the rest of the classes as well. People thought she wore colored contacts, but in reality, her eyes were naturally that way; she hated them with a passion. She grew out her hair to cover her eyes, but people would stare, they always stared. Lilith was also taller than most of the girls in her class; most of them standing at a petite 5' 2, while Lilith stood at an alarming 5' 6. With her height came weight; she was a bit larger than the girls in her class as well. All of her features made her more aware of her mistakes. She always criticized herself in everything she did. She built expectations that she, nor anyone else, could ever accomplish. She blamed herself for how chubby she was. Lilith hated everything about herself.

She never paid attention in class, she was always either looking out the window or day dreaming. She had already learned about all of the material, but this was the most advanced class their school could offer. She was always far ahead of the other students.

At this moment, Lilith was writing a song in her notebook.

_Perfect Imperfection_

_How can it be?_

_You could be a girl like you, but I turned out to be me?_

She was always comparing herself to the other girls. They all thought that she was far behind them with the way she took notes, but looks can be deceiving. Lilith was at the top of her grade. She grew bored of the classroom and longed to venture outside the walls. Other students were allowed to during the holidays to visit their relatives, but since Lilith's mother didn't want her to come back, she never left the school. Sure, Lilith had dreamed of skipping class and exploring the "Windy City", but never had the courage to do it. She knew that if she made any trouble for her mother, that she would never hear the end of it. Dreaming was all she had really.

The school day dragged on as usual. She sat with no one during lunch; no one dared to sit near Lilith, weird thing would happen if someone did. No matter how many students were in the lunch room, they would all squeeze into the remaining seats to avoid her. Lilith munched on an apple as she entered the cafeteria. All eyes were on her. She didn't try to stand out, but with her features, it was hard not to stare. It wasn't that she was ugly, rather, the opposite. Lilith was quite beautiful, but came off as a cold wall. Her hard exterior prevented people from talking to her. In a sense, she was creating the problem herself.

She pulled out the green plastic chair and sat down. As usual, the table was empty. The last time someone had joined her for lunch was a disabled girl named Lyra. She was wheel chair bound and only joined her because everywhere else was full. The next day, she was found lying at the bottom of the stairs, she was knocked unconscious. Ever since then, no one dared to even speak to Lilith, until this day.

Lilith was almost finished eating her apple when a girl, wearing a too-tight shirt and a mini-skirt, hopped over. Lilith thought how weird it was for someone to be wearing a skirt on such a cold October day. The girl's hair was bouncy, curled, and blonde; not a single strand was out of place. The girl's make-up was even more perfect. Lilith wondered why such a beautiful girl would sit next to plain old her.

"Hi there!" the petite girl squeaked.

"Uh, Hello?" Lilith said questionably. She hadn't socialized with another girl in a very, very long time.

"What's your name?" the girl's bright blue eyes stared into Lilith's soul, her body shivered at the sound of the girl's voice.

"Lilith" she responded bluntly. People all over the cafeteria whispered to each other.

"I'm Lamia. Nice to meet you!" she stuck her hand out. Lilith stared at it for a moment before slowly shaking it.

"Nice to meet you to?" responded a confused Lilith.

The rest of lunch, Lamia talked to Lilith, if someone could really call that talking. Lamia just kept going on and on about the importance of conditioner while Lilith patiently listened.

Over the course of the next month, Lamia and another girl, Bernice, joined Lilith's new table. Lilith felt over joyed at the thought people actually wanted to talk to her. Every night, she would still hear the clacking of feet as she rushed back to her dorm room. She wasn't about to tell her friends about her pursuer, it was too soon, they would think she was weird.

Lilith walked into her English class, expecting to talk to Lamia and Bernice about what she could do to style her hair, when she walked in on a devastating scene. Lamia and Bernice were sitting in the middle of a group of people who were watching a video of Lilith, changing. All around, the girls were laughing and the guys were hooting. Lilith's faced was flushed with anger. She ran and shut the laptop down, hard, hard enough to break the screen. Everyone was laughing at this point. Lamia snapped out of it long enough to ask Lilith why she had broken her laptop. Lilith's eyes burned, her palms grew sweaty, and she planted her feet firmly on the ground.

"How could someone be so stupid?!"

_Stop it_

"Post it on Youtube!"

_Don't_

"Let's send this to our principal!"

_No_

"Do it! Do it!"

_shut up_

Lilith couldn't take the anger anymore. The walls were creaking, wind rocked the school building, but the foolish students did not pay attention.

"Honestly, you thought someone would want to be friends with you?" mocked Lamia. The world went silent when the students finally looked out the glass windows.

"SHUT UP" Lilith screamed at the top of her lung. She closed her eyes and clutched her head. The glass windows behind her had erupted, a howling wind swept across the room. Glass shards as sharp as knives were hurdling towards the students. A mixture of wind and rain brought endless piles of glass burrowing themselves into her classmate's flesh. The students had realized their mistake too late.

When Lilith opened her eyes to examine the damage, she saw blood.


	2. The Beginning (Part 2)

It was everywhere, splattered on the walls, in pools on the floor. It just kept flowing. It was as if someone had thrown a ripe tomato at a blank canvas. Lilith backed away from the students lying on the floor. She could just barely see the rise and fall of some of the students' chests. _Thank God, they are alive,_ Lilith turned around to check on Lamia and Bernice. Bernice was removing a shard of glass from her leg about 5 inches long; she didn't even cringe when the rest of the shard was taken out. Lamia was sitting on top of one of the desks, looking satisfied at Lilith.

"I had a hunch that you were a Demi-God, but I never imagined it would be this bad" Lamia stood up; she stepped on pieces of broken glass and the hands of a few of the unconscious students.

"Lamia. I-I-I don't know what just happened" Lilith looked at all the damage she had done, all the people she had hurt.

"Lily, Lily, Lily. Don't act like you don't know" Lamia dipped her finger in a pool of blood lying on the floor. "What we are" She stuck her finger with blood dripping down it inside of her mouth. Lilith caught a glimpse of sharp teeth from inside.

"I-I really don't know" She had backed away. Lamia's eyes had begun to turn a sinister red, the monster. _Lamia is a type of vampire monster from Greek mythology! How could I be so blind?_

"Something tells me you know now." Lamia got closer to Lilith with every passing second.

"Sister, can I?" Bernice was practically drooling over the pile of unconscious bodies.

"Wait till I'm finished with this one. Then we will enjoy our feast" Lamia lunged at Lilith, who had pulled out her knife. "Ow! *Pidiksu!" Lamia pounced on Lilith at amazing speed, but Lilith was always one step ahead of her.

Lilith tried to fight off the hissing vampire, but Lamia had her pinned down. Her knife was knocked from her hands across the floor. "Any last words?" Lamia stretched the 's'. Lilith stared at the knife lying across the cold floor. _Please, come back,_ the knife didn't move. Lamia was just about to sink her fangs into Lilith's neck when she turned into sand. The knife had thrown itself into Lamia's back. Lilith sat up and lay against the wall. Bernice's eyes turned red as she hissed.

"I will avenge my sister!" Bernice charged at poor Lilith.

When Bernice jumped onto her, Lilith raised the knife up and stabbed her in the chest. She too had evaporated into dust. Lilith, exhausted, arose from the floor. The scene was still as horrific as in the beginning, only now, Lilith had murdered her best friends. She felt drained. The world turned over as Lilith blinked her lifeless white eyes. She began to fall onto the floor; there was no way to rescue her from hitting the cold classroom floor. She opened her eyes; they had now gone blurry, but she saw a group of people run into the room straight at her. She blinked again and saw that a person had picked her up and tossed her onto his shoulder. She blinked again and found herself lying in a car.

The next time she closed her eyes, she wouldn't open them for a long while.

* Pidiksu= F*** you


	3. Where the Strawberries Grow

Lilith drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few days. She remembered seeing people around her, but every time she was about to say something, she would fade into the welcoming blackness all over again.

The final time Lilith opened her eyes, she saw the disabled girl, Lyra, standing over her bed.

"Thank the Gods you are awake!" Lyra exclaimed with a relieved expression. Lilith sat in shock. Yellow tinted horns about 5 inches long shoot out from her jet black hair. Brown fur and hooves took the place of her feet. A person, who Lilith thought to be disabled, turned out to be a half-lady half-goat.

"Uh" Lilith managed to whisper out.

"Back away Lyra. You are scaring the poor girl! She doesn't know about this yet" Standing in the door way was a beautiful girl. Long blonde hair fell upon her shoulders like waves at a beach; her eyes shined brighter than the most polished amethyst. Her skin was a bit tan and had patches of freckles. The girl didn't need makeup to look beautiful, she was already perfect.

"I guess you are right" Lyra walked/trotted out of the room past the beautiful girl.

"Hi there, my name is Rebecca, but everyone calls me Reba. What is your name?" Reba inched closer to the bed.

"My name is Lilith" Lilith was still feeling weak and was not able to raise her hand for a hand shake.

"Do you mind if I call you Lily?" Reba looked at her questionably, but all Lilith could think of was Lamia and Bernice; how nice they treated her, how they made her feel so important, how she killed them, how they called her Lily.

"I guess it's fine" Lilith felt as if she was about to pass out. She couldn't stop her head from swaying a bit to the side.

"Looks like you need an energy boost" Reba clapped her hands and a glass filled with mysterious liquid appeared on the night stand. "Drink it, it's good".

Lilith was a bit hesitant to drink the substance, but her thirst for the drink was too much to bear. She grabbed the glass with her chubby fingers and took a sip. The instant the glass touched her mouth her thirst was satiated. The cold water running down her mouth tasted exactly like Arizona Lemon Tea, Lilith's favorite drink. By drinking the liquid alone, she already felt stronger.

She set the tall glass on the wooden nightstand next to the bed and began to lift the cover off of her feet. When Lilith stood up, she almost fell right back down, but Reba rushed over to her aid. Lilith clung onto Reba's orange shirt that read 'Camp Half-Blood' on it.

Slowly but surely, Lilith began to regain her composure; of course, she was an inch or two taller than Reba. Lilith was over whelmed the minute she walked out of the infirmary doors. Green grass was everywhere and it was littered with wild flowers and strawberry plants. Half-Goat Half-Human people were playing miniature flutes around the garden. The sky was as blue as could be and the air was warm like in the summer. In the horizon, she could see teenagers battling with swords and practicing archery. There was a rock climbing wall that reached taller than the blue house she had just come out of. All around her were people talking, laughing, and having fun.

"What is this place" Lilith gaped. Reba smiled happily and said;

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood"


	4. Claimed?

_Is this really real?_ Lilith took in the magnificent view of the Camp. It was the most amazing thing Lilith had ever seen. The Windy City of Chicago paled in comparison to the magical place.

"Let's get you cleaned up" Reba led the awe-struck Lilith into a pathway where twenty brilliantly built cabins stood. All the cabins had a different scheme; one smelled of burning metal, another one was trashed with weapons of all different sorts, and another one almost put poor Lilith to sleep. One stood out to Lilith the most, a low cabin that stretched far, all the windows faced too the body of water lurking to perfectly behind it, pieces of seashells and coral littered the surrounding area, Lilith thought she could see some coral growing from the window sill. _Wicked_, Lilith thought to herself.

"This is my cabin, pick out an outfit from my dresser" Lilith was amazed by the scenery, but the amount of clothes sitting in Reba's dresser shocked her even more.

"S-s-so m-much c-clothes" Reba gave Lilith a reassuring look and sat on her perfectly made bed. Lilith looked at herself in the mirror; her shirt was still stained with the blood of her classmates, torn by Lamia and Bernice; her pants were ripped up pretty badly as well, she was surprised they didn't fall right off when they walked to the cabin. Lilith began to look through the massive amount of clothes. She picked up a black long sleeved cardigan with a white tank top and pair of black jeans.

"For now you can wear this, once you have been claimed we will give you a shirt like mine."

Reba showed Lilith to the showers at the Camp. She also told her that since it was the middle of the day that no one would be near it. Lilith consciously walked into the showers; Reba would wait for her back at the Cabin.

The cold water from the shower head rushed a shower of relief down Lilith's aching body. _What am I doing here? How do I know if I can trust these people? _Lilith asked herself many questions while bathing herself. _What really happened that day?_ This question Lilith asked herself the most. All the people she hurt, then, abandoned. Her head began to ache violently, suddenly. She fell against the shower wall, clutching her head in pain. Her eyes began to glow an incandescent white. She screamed, the amount of pain was unbearable for the normal human being, but Lilith was anything but normal, even for Camp Half-Blood.

Reba quickly ran into the bathroom and saw Lilith suffering. A glowing Lyre appeared over the head of Lilith. "Apollo" Reba whispered. The Lyre transformed into a budding flower. "Demeter?" The flower wilted away and transformed into a hammer. "Hephaestus?" The hammer melted and turned into a shining sword. "Ares?" The sword had transformed itself into a lightning bolt. "Zeus" Lilith screamed in agony. The lightning bolt burst into a shower of fireworks. "Hecate" The sparks slowed and took the form of an owl. "Athena" The owl began to take flight; its mighty wings opened but were pointed upwards in a painful fashion, the feathers fell out and the owl took on the figure of a trident. "Poseidon"

Lilith opened her eyes and saw Reba staring at her in horror. _Don't look at me like that! _Reba didn't move from her place. _Reba NO! _Thousands of thoughts rushed through Lilith's mind like a hurricane, and there was no stopping it.

"DON'T LOOK AT ME" Lilith screamed at the top of her lungs. The pipes in the showers burst and water flowed everywhere. Reba was knocked backwards into the current. A wave of water came down upon the poor girl; she was knocked away under the waves.

Lilith fell unconscious in the shower. The water was being diverted by a boy wearing a rag around his eyes. Reba sat up in the ankle deep water level, gasping for air.

"Percy, what is she?" The boy wearing the rag turned to her.

"I don't know"


	5. The Unknown Promise

Lilith POV

My eyes fluttered open._ Where am I again?_ I thought to myself. People stood over my bed with malice expressions. My heart beat faster. _Who are these people? What's going on? _I saw a familiar face in the crowd of strangers. Reba burst through and shooed everyone out. "Give her some room guys; the girl has only been awake for 2 hours since she got here!" A lone person sat in the corner of the room. He had beautiful sea green eyes and black hair. I could tell he noticed me looking at him. He stood up from the wooden chair and kneeled down beside my bed.

"From today on you are a half-blood" His eyes showed compassion but also held a deep sadness.

"Percy, she doesn't know what a half-blood is" Reba closed the door and headed to where we were. "Then let me explain to her" Reba nodded in agreement and pulled out a chair.

"A Half-Blood is someone who has one mortal parent and one godly parent. You know who the Greek Gods are, right?"

"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Athena…Stuff like that?"

"Correct. Some of them come down to Earth and have children with mortals. This is a place where those children can live peacefully. Beyond the boundaries of the camp, monsters target us. We can train here and learn to defend ourselves. Everyone here has a godly parent, and-"

"Who is my godly parent?" I cut Percy off mid-sentence. This is something important. Percy looked at Reba and back at me. "Reba, can I talk to you for a second?" Percy led Reba to the other side of the room.

"Reba, we don't know what she is! Let alone her godly parent. What are we going to say?"

"Well, the one that glowed the brightest was Poseidon's. Let's just put her in your cabin."

"Are you sure this is alright" Percy looked at Reba intensely; his green eyes looking into her amethyst ones. "I'll do some more research on her history later."

"Reba, you better keep your promise this time, okay?" His eyes stared intently at the laid-back blonde.

"Don't worry man. I got this!" Reba and Percy made their way back to the bed where Lilith sat upright and confused.

"Who is my godly parent?" I asked again. I had the right to know who my father was. Percy grabbed my hand and said "Congratulations, you are my new sister! I am Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, but you can call me Percy. Nice to meet you!" He shook my hand around; his grip was stronger than I had figured. "Let me show you our cabin" I took the covers off of my feet and found myself wearing the outfit I had picked up the day before.

"If I collapsed in the shower, then who dressed me?" Reba and Percy stopped dead in their tracks. Percy's face turned redder than the strawberries growing outside. Reba scratched her head. "D-did y-y-you guys-s s-see m-me n-n-naked?" My ears became hot with embarrassment and anger.

"Well, you see, uh. Race you guys to Poseidon cabin!" Reba took off running with Percy close behind her.

"Don't just leave me here! Answer my question!" I ran after the two of them. Everyone stared at us like we were idiots, but we just kept running. It had to be one of the funniest things that ever happened in my life. I hope this never ends. By my history, it is only a matter of time before something bad happens. Something bad always happens.


	6. The First Day is Always the Hardest

Lilith could not hide the look of pure amazement on her face as she entered her new home, Cabin 3. It was the same cabin she had been so enchanted with earlier. She stopped abruptly to admire the area, her eyes opened wide to absorb every little detail. Percy, who had been walking in front of her, noticed her absence and turned around. He took notice of her eyes, but who couldn't? They were whiter than the abalone walls inside the cabin. It was a normal sight for grey eyes in Camp Half-Blood, but white? _Could it be a mutation?_ Percy wondered to himself. _She can't really be a child of all those Gods, could she? _He didn't know why, but Lilith gave him a bad feeling, like something ominous was lurking around. Since she was now going to be living with him, the least he could do what at least try to get closer to her; she is his half-sister.

"So what do you think of the cabin?" He had begun to walk towards her. She shook out of her trance and glanced at Percy, but immediately glanced away, as if she was trying to avoid his haze.

"I know what you're going to say. I'm a freak, yes, I know, but just listen to this; I had nothing to do with my eye color or unnatural height." Lilith still did not look Percy in the eye, but on a purple seashell that rested near her foot. Percy had to admit, she was pretty tall for a 14 year-old, and her eye color was truly unusual, but those traits didn't make her bad; she was actually quite beautiful.

He kneeled down on the ground and picked up the shell that Lilith was staring at, held it to his face, and smiled. What he said shook Lilith's world. "You're not a freak, you're one of us." She was utterly speechless, a brother she never knew she had, was trying to genuinely welcome her. Tears fell down Lilith's face as she smiled. "Thank you".

Percy also smiled as he stood up and handed the shell over to his crying half-sister. The ominous feeling hadn't disappeared, but only weakened. The ice was broken, and the two of them began to get along much better. Percy even started telling her the stories he went on. Lily patiently listened, showing much interest in the subject. Half way through his story about 'the sea of monsters', Reba cut in.

"Hey Percy, don't you think you should show Lily to Anabeth? Not that it's a choice really; Anabeth kind of _has_ to meet her." Percy pouted as he and Lilith started walking toward a cabin made shining silver. Percy pushed open the golden doors.

"Hey Anabeth, there is someone you should meet." Lilith was once again stunned. There were about a dozen campers in there, most of which had blonde hair and grey eyes. One girl, who was working particularly hard looked up and smiled. Lilith assumed this was Anabeth. Her eyes were filled with happiness once hers met Percy's.

"I'll be there in a sec seaweed brain." Anabeth began to straighten up her bunk as Percy and Lilith headed outside. "Who is this person I am meeting?" She had a big smile on her face.

"This is Lilith, she is a new camper, but you can call her Lily." Percy Leaned against the walls of the cabin with Lilith standing by. Anabeth's eyes were filled with excitement.

"Hey Lily, what cabin are you in? This is Athena cabin by the way." She stuck out her hand in front of Lilith's. Lilith was hesitant to take it, but shook it anyway.

"Poseidon cabin" In that second, Anabeth froze; her smile dropped. _But Percy was the only exception to the agreement_ Anabeth thought to herself; _there aren't supposed to be any more children of the big three._ Lilith noticed how Anabeth reacted and spoke up. "Is something wrong?" Percy cut in after a few moments.

"I'll, uh, explain it later to you. Anyways, Lily needs a weapon, so can you take her to the shack, maybe show her around?" Anabeth snapped out of it and nodded her head, letting go of Lilith's hand. She noticed that the air grew uneasy when Lily was around, and didn't know what to think of it. Sure, her instincts had kept her alive before, but what are they saying about Lilith; to avoid her? to be scared of her?

"Sure, no problem."

Anabeth and Lily went off in the direction of the sword shack as Percy walked back to his cabin. Lilith was once again amazed by the shear amount of weapons in the room. _Swords, Bows, Daggers, Scythes, they've got everything. _Although there were many magnificent dangers in the room, Lilith felt drawn to two. Not even Anabeth was prepared for the two weapons she had picked. Throughout the clutter, Lilith managed to dig out what seemed to be Japanese like sword and one that seemed like a sickle.

"Wow, I didn't even know we had that here." Anabeth gestured to the Japanese sword. "The other one is Harpe, its half-sickle and half-sword. We can train you for that, but not, whatever that is." Lilith unsheathed the oriental sword. On the blade carved into the folded steel were the characters "腐った". A slight glow grew within her eyes as she eerily whispered "Kusatta" The feeling of dread and hopelessness clawed its way up Anabeth's throat as she swallowed, hard, in an effort to shove the feeling back down. The glow left Lilith's eyes as she focused back on her surroundings.

"Sorry, I got a little bit carried away." Lilith tried to hide her face as she stood up from the ground, her two weapons in hand.

Anabeth tried to hide her uneasiness, underneath a smile. "It's fine"

A silence fell upon the two girls.

"Why don't we put your weapons down at your cabin and then I can go show you around?" Anabeth tried to make things less awkward. Lilith glanced over her with a blank expression in her eyes and plainly responded. "Okay".

Anabeth showed her around some pretty amazing sights, but every time she tried to get a reaction from Lilith, she would just stare at the ground, her eyes filled with nothingness. It was obvious that the two wouldn't get along, everyone around noticed that. It didn't seem like she would have gotten along with anyone. It was if the air around her grew stale and put everyone around her on their toes. People kept their distances from Lilith.

The time for dinner came around and everyone began throwing food into the fire. Of course, Anabeth and Percy failed to mention this to Lilith. She looked at her plate and threw in her entire portion of chicken. A camper from across the fire gave her a 'not bad' look. Lilith didn't like the attention that surrounded her and sat down at Poseidon table. Percy was sitting there with another person. _What were they called again? Satyr!_ Lilith tried to sit as far away from the two as possible, as it was in her habit to keep a distance. The Satyr next to Percy took notice of Lilith and whispered "Hey, who's that hot chick sitting at the end of the table?" Percy grew a bit irritated at the Satyr's comment.

"That 'hot chick' sitting over there is my new sister."

"Oh what?! I didn't know you had a sister! Why is she being a loner over there?" He gestured in Lilith's direction.

"She joined today, so I wouldn't have expected you to notice. And besides, are you sure you should be calling other girls hot, I mean you _are_ in a relationship." Percy smirked at his best friend.

"Hey, just because I'm in a relationship doesn't mean I can't find other things beautiful. Look at this enchilada, it's a work of art" Grover took a bite of his food and closed his eyes in happiness. "See!" Percy laughed at Grover's facial expression and looked over to his sister who stared into space.

"I'm going to call her over, maybe she hasn't made any friends yet."

"What about Reba? You know that girl is just itching to talk to someone. And no one will even talk to her because of what she did; think they'll get along?" Grover took another bite of his enchilada.

"They seemed to get along fine, but you know the rules about crossing tables." Percy slid out of his seat and walked to the side of the table where Lilith sat alone. "Hey Lily, do you want to sit by me and Grover?" Lilith looked up and nodded. Percy wondered why she was never really expressive. "Grover, this is Lily, Lily, this is Grover." Grover stuck out his hand for Lilith to shake it, but she just nodded.

Grover tried his best to be nice to her but couldn't think of anything to say. He finally decided it was time to break the ice and said, "So I take it you're the silent type." Percy nearly spit out his drink, but just ended up choking on it. Lilith's face shot up from her plate as she hit the sides of her cheeks.

"Is my awkwardness showing?" She looked at them with all seriousness, but Percy and Grover could not be. They both started laughing at the top of their lungs. They hadn't expected _that_ to come out of her mouth.

The rest of dinner mostly consisted of Grover asking Lilith ridiculous questions.

"If someone tried to trip you what would you do?"

"Fall"

"What do you prefer to drink?"

"Liquids"

"If a guy you thought was cute said 'hi' to you what would you do?"

"Wake up"

Percy and Grover were so red from laughing that they looked like tomatoes. Grover took a gulp of water and said, "You are very blunt aren't you?" Lilith calmly responded

"Why lie when it's easier to tell the truth?"

Grover gave her a sophisticated look and said "Touché"

Lilith had more fun at dinner than she expected to have. She took a liking to Grover and began to warm up a little. Towards the end of the dinner, she even let out a smile. Grover of course made a comment on how she had finally smiled. Over all, Lilith was able to make a new friend. Grover too had felt eeriness when she had first entered, but gotten over it, as he was enjoying himself too much.

Percy and Lilith walked back to the cabin on the dimly lit path and went to sleep. Lilith thought to herself before she slept, _don't get too attached. You'll regret it later._ While Percy just dreamt the night away. Lilith would soon have an encounter that would change her life, for the better and worse.


	7. Nosy Harpies Won't Bother Me Now

"Man Lily, you are a riot." Percy wiped hair out of his for head, and sighed.

"Am I? I was just being honest." Was I really that funny of a person? I wasn't really trying to tell jokes; it had been a while since I was really able to have a conversation with someone, or at least someone who seemed like they cared.

Percy looked over at me and smiled, "I've never met someone like you before."

I turned to face him and asked "Is that good or bad". He raised his arm and patted my head, the warmth seeping into my skin, it felt nice, loving. "Of course it's for the better!"

I wondered to myself, will I really be able to stay here? To be able to call this place home? Although I have a strong brother who seems to care, I can't help but shake the feeling that I am alone. I can't shake the feeling off that everyone is always watching my every move, and when I look back, all I see are judgmental eyes staring back at me. I should have been used to the glares by now; I have been facing them all my life.

Percy and I made it back to the cabin.

"I'm going to sleep in early. Remember that if you leave the cabin after curfew the Harpies will eat you!" He walked in ahead of me and went to bed. On the other hand, I could not fall asleep. I sat upright in my bed, drawing on a piece of paper that was lying around. I looked out the window, the moon was full. I quickly turned my head to the clock; it read 2:30.

I had unintentionally stayed awake for 4 hours, great. I tried tossing and turning in my bed, but it only made me more uncomfortable. Since I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, I decided to get some fresh air.

I slipped on my boots and sneaked outside the cabin; I was still wearing my clothes from earlier in the day. There was a lake behind Poseidon Cabin. My back rested on a boulder as I sat down on the grass. The moon never looked so perfect as it hung over the calm lake, it made me want to take a picture, but that just reminded me that I left many_ many_ things behind; my dagger, my sketch-book, even the camera I bought after I saved up my money for 5 years, all of if just, gone. They were the only things I ever held dear to me. I looked all around, no one was in sight, should I really do it? I did another quick scan of the area, it's now or never.

"Missing your face and your touch" I looked around the lake once again.

"Missing your kiss and your love,  
Missing every little bit and piece of you,  
Baby could you meet me halfway cos' I'm down for you" Just letting my voice out felt amazing, even euphoric. I never had the chance to just let it all out.

"Ooo, the many things that I would do,  
Just to feel you, Hold you,  
Man it's hard not to have you here," I decided to just pour out my feelings that had been piling up since forever ago, it felt right, it felt perfect.

"You're probably sitting here, like me,  
Missing you baby, Owee,  
Oh, promise to listen before you sleep,

Cos' when I'm staring at the stars,  
Looking at the moon,  
I'm wishing that I, could be there with you,  
It's okay, it's alright  
Baby listen to this Lullaby~  
Good night, Sleep tight,  
Dream away, with me, tonight" I hung out the last note until I hear a rustling in the bushes along with a muffles shout.

What am I going to do? I don't have anything to protect myself with! I kept my head behind the bolder as I tried to get a better look at what had made the sound. The night quickly returned back to being quiet, yet I still could not dismiss the fact of a presence lurking around here. It couldn't be a monster could it? How could I be such a fool, thinking that this Camp would protect me from the shadows in the dark? I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. A twig snapped from behind me, but I can't bring myself to look back.

The wind swept through the tree branches making an eerie noise. I felt a warm presence on my back and heard a dark, yet soft voice speak into my ear, followed by a hot breath, "You should be afraid of the dark" and with that my heart sunk.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

((You really don't think that I would leave you on a cliff hanger would I?!))

..

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

((Actually, I am. Sorry guys!))


	8. Nosebleeds and Curses

Terror had built up inside me as I sat there paralyzed. I may not have my weapons here, but that doesn't mean that I can't fight back.

His warm breath lingered on my neck as he began to speak. So I raised my elbow and punched that sucker in the nose.

While he was in shock, I got up and ran away back to the cabin. When I reached it, I immediately jumped back into bed and closed my eyes, hoping to fool whoever it was into thinking that I was not here.

The sun rose into its place, over shadowing the moon. Percy woke me up. "Grab you stuff, today we are going to do something really special." He had a sort of gleam to his eyes which made him look happier than usual.

"What's so special about Friday?" I asked.

"You'll see."

I shook off what happened last night as a dream. I mean, I'm not the type to break rules, especially not going out after dark; the harpies would have gotten me for sure. I noticed that that there were 2 more beds in our cabin, but Percy was already too far away for me to ask him. I finished putting on a pair of black leggings along with a pair of shorts as well as my new orange Camp Half-Blood shirt. It felt kind of nostalgic to be wearing it.

The day started out normal, at least what seems to be normal for here; Cabin inspection, Ancient Greek, Armor polishing, Pegasus riding, Greek Mythology, lunch, those kinds of things. Then, all the campers started heading to this back section of the woods. I thought it was a bit strange, could this be the special thing that Percy was excited about?

The half man half horse called a centaur that is known as Chiron stepped up.

"Okay Campers, this is what you have all been waiting for. Cabins divide yourselves up into two teams, prepare for Capture the flag." A cheer arose from the crowd. I clutched my katana that rested on my back; will I really be able to do this? All the other campers have years of training, strength, and skill, and all I have is a sword which I don't even know how to use yet. I put on a blue helmet along with other armor, my heart sped up.

Percy grabbed my wrist and pulled me to a side in the woods. I stood surrounded by a crowd of strangers, even worse; they all stared at my blade. I gulped. Please let me not die first. I heard a horn in the distance and the campers let out a battle cry. I covered my ears as they all started to run in. Some people stayed behind to protect the flag. I decided to take things slow and steady as I walked into the woods.

Everything looked the same, except, the trees looked like they moved. I thought I heard the snap of a twig so I drew my sword and turned around. Nothing was there. Paranoia sets in, great. Different shades and tones of green and brown surrounded me as I aimlessly walked through the forest. I decided to take a rest near a pile of rocks, which looked like goat poop in the shape of a fist. How long will it take to die out here? 10-14 days without food, 6-9 without water, 4-5 with heat stroke. And that's just by natural causes, who knows what lurks in the shadows of the forest.

I wiped the sweat off my brow and tried to take shelter from the sun. Hours seemed to go by before I decided to take leave, for in a few hours it would be getting dark, and I definitely don't want to be around this place in the dark.

After strolling around a bit, I noticed a few scratch marks on the surrounding trees. I ran my hand over the creases and found some shavings, fresh. I drew my sword once again and got into a defensive posture. Suddenly, I felt a massive weight on my back and fell onto the floor, my sword flew just out of reach. I looked behind me to see a massive scorpion that had just whacked me with its claw. It let out a very loud clicking noise before it started to get into a stringing position. I scrambled to reach my sword, but I could barely pick it up with my trembling hands. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I struggled to sit up.

Right when the scorpion was about to strike, the ground began to split from underneath me. A massive roar erupted. The scorpion trembled in fear. All of a sudden, skeletons started crawling from the cracks in the Earth. There was a very small and transparent layer of skin over their bones along with an empty look in their eyes. They ambushed the monster as I sat there in amazement of what was going on. 3 were crushed by the scorpion almost immediately. Then, from the distance, I saw a boy, carrying a sword rushing into the scene.

"Watch out!" I yelled. He either didn't hear me or heard me and chose to ignore me.

He started to work at the claws, trying to cut them off. I just sat there in amazement at the sight, he was beautiful, except for the bandage covering his nose. Olive skin, Hair as dark as night, eyes like amber in the sun. He turned to face me.

"Well don't just stand there! Help me" I snapped out of my daze and began to head over.

I stood with my feet shoulder width apart, holding my sword towards the scorpion. A feeling of weightlessness took over me as I stood there, now. I raised the blade and struck down on the creature, slicing its claw straight off. It turned around and hit me with its tail and knocked me backwards. I managed to stay on my feet as I slid back about 12 feet. I pointed my sword towards the ground as I began rushing towards the beast once again. The mysterious boy had already sliced off the tail with the help of the skeletons. I raised the blade once again and drove it straight into one of the eyes. It burst into a pile of dust, just like Lamia did.

The boy wiped the sweat off of his brow and waved his hand over the ground, instantaneously, the ground began to shake again, and with that, the skeletons disappeared. I put my weapon back into the sheath and stood my ground. The boy looked at me strangely, as if he was studying me. I tried to stay sane as he did so, but my heart beat soared. Suddenly, a light lit up his eyes. He ran over, took my hands, and pinned me up against a tree. His face was a few mere inches away from mine. Could he tell how much I was blushing or how my heart was racing? I tried looking away, but my eyes stayed locked on his, as if I was put into a trance.

His breath felt hot against my bare skin as he opened his mouth and whispered "I know who you are" If I wasn't the color of a tomato, then I sure am now. He opened his mouth to speak once again. "You are the silly girl that broke my nose last night." My mind flashed back to the scene that I dismissed as a dream earlier. I tried to do my usual face, to prevent any signs of confirmation to get out. The words kept twisting up in my mouth, and I didn't know what to say.

"Is that so?" I said questionably. The boy gave me that 'Are you kidding me face' and rested his head on my shoulder. "Pervert" I shouted.

On the way to bringing his head back up, he hit my chin and I bounced against the tree. He let go of my hands and clutched his forehead. I took the opportunity to take a head start and ran away. I heard him yell in the distance "Wait! I'm not finished!"

I'm guessing he is not the best runner, since I, who got 12:25 on my mile, was able to keep a great distance from him.

I unintentionally ran head first into the enemy base, where the flag was located. Two campers began to rush towards me. I pulled out my sword and deflected the first blow. The feeling of weightlessness entered my being once again as I furiously swayed my blade from side to side, deflecting left and right. Defense was my best option with only one sword. The camper brought the blade down harder than I expected as sliced my side. Blood began to rush down my leg, but the attacks showed no sign of wearing down.

This only made me boil with anger. I've been lost, battled with a giant scorpion, been assaulted by a boy, and now, I'm bleeding. A white glow erupted from my sword as I backed away from the flag. The others began to back away as well. It began to shake in my hands, then suddenly, it split into another sword. How is this even happening? Well, this is no time to be asking questions. I ran head first into battle.

The two didn't even stand a chance. I had disarmed them in less than a minute, but they were persistent. Hit after hit, they kept coming. I was losing too much blood to deal with all that was happening. I was just so sick of it all. I raised my swords and bellowed "Be still"

As was my command, the campers stood still with their eyes agape. Out of rage, I slashed the flag pole, splitting it in half. I took the flag, dropped my swords and pointed my hands to the campers, "Now kneel down before me."

The rest of my team arrived not soon afterwards and came upon this seemingly horrifying scene and saw what I had done. The second sword disappeared before anyone could notice. I picked up Kusatta and put it back in the sheath, preparing myself for the harsh words that were soon to come. But instead, the campers roared in victory.

I heard one of the red team members say "It's always the Poseidon kids." My team picked me up and carried me all the way to the Dinning Pavilion.

Had I really done it? So many unexplainable things happened today. Is that how it always is here? Is this the power of Poseidon? I had controlled those two people.

I sat down across from Percy and Grover. The campers from the red team gave me dirty stares that pierced through the veil of my sanity. I was used to getting stares, but these were filled with pure hatred. I just wanted to curl up in a hole and fade away.

"Look who decided to show up tonight." Grover said to Percy. I looked in the direction he was pointing. There was the boy from the woods, the boy from last night; he sat alone at a table.

"Hey Nico, wanna going us?" I quickly turned and tried to hide my face, unexpectedly, I hid them in my mashed potatoes. Grover and Percy both looked at me. I raised my head out of my mashed potatoes and said "I'm gonna head back to the cabin."

"Your sister really is something, Percy." I heard Grover say. I tried to sneak my way back to the cabin without anyone seeing me, but ended up getting lost. I am pretty directionally impaired.

I accidently stumbled onto a secret meeting of Apollo cabin.

"I'm telling you guys, we didn't surrender! She used some kind of curse to control us. What were the words again Kale?"

"Imperio! It sounds like something the Hecate campers use. You know them and their witchcraft! She also made her sword split in two!"

"But Poseidon campers don't use magic."

"Will, you have to believe me!"

"There is no reason for me to."

The cabin dispersed and left the scene, leaving me alone in the dark. My heart began to race at the thought of the monsters that chase me. I clutched my head and fell against the side of a tree. With every snap of a twig I would almost lose it all. Tears began to well up in my eyes. Why do I have to be such a cry baby? I began to feel very drowsy, like I could fall asleep in an instant, but if I did, who knows what would get me. It was a struggle to stay awake.

All of a sudden, I felt a warm presence surrounding me. I looked up to see Nico holding me in a tight embrace.

"If you are that afraid of the dark then you shouldn't have been out by the lake yesterday."

In a daze, I responded "But then I would never had met you." And with that I fell.


	9. Something that bloomed

Narrator;

Lilith suddenly fell lifeless as tears started sliding down her polished face. "Hey, girl, stop joking." Nico grabbed her arms and shook her gently. "This isn't funny." From the eerie silence, a loud snore erupted from Lily. "Really, you fell asleep here?"

Nico slid his arm under her legs and by her neck to hoist her up into the air. As he carried her near the cabins, he couldn't help but be tantalized by her sweet aroma. He thought about carrying her all the Poseidon Cabin, but soon realized that he was too exhausted form earlier in the game to do so. Eventually, he decided to just bring her back to Hades Cabin.

He slowly lowered the body of the sleeping Lilith onto his bed, since there were no other beds in his Cabin. Nico had planned to sleep on the floor, but Lilith refused to let go of his hand. So he had slipped into his bed with her. The warm heat that radiated off of her body had absorbed into Nico's cold skin. A child of Hades was born with skin as frigid as ice. He began to melt in her presence. Even he began to fall under the spell of sleep, which was rare for him. He suffered from night terrors and barely got 3 hours of sleep. But with Lilith, all of the fears began to fade away. Before he allowed himself to fall into his sub consciousness, he ever so gently placed a kiss on Lilith's forehead. As they both began to fade away into their dreams.

In the morning, Lilith awoke in a daze, in an environment she was not familiar with. She wiped her brown fringe out of her eyes and yawned.

"It's about time you woke up." Her heart began to throb uncontrollably inside her chest. She looked to her right and saw Nico standing upright. Water droplets dripped down his pale neck as he dried his hair off with a towel.

Lilith's eyes were agape as she covered herself in the blankets once more and exclaimed "Pervert!"

Nico threw the towel on a chair near his desk and sat down. "Do you know any other word?! You're the once that fell asleep in the woods yesterday. You should be thankful that I picked you up and carried you all the way over here. The Harpies would have gotten you for sure." He felt triumphant as he began to straighten up his dusky desk. It had been a while since he had come back to his home.

"If you carried me all the way here, then why didn't you just carry me all the way over to my cabin? It's just across the yard." Nico tried to hide the look of pure embarrassment on his face as he thought to himself; _Why would I want to do that, idiot._ He quickly dismissed the idea and reminded himself; _She's nothing special. _As he opened his mouth to respond, footsteps were heard around the cabin.

"Cabin inspections. Hurry, go out the back to your cabin, if they catch you in here, we'll both be in trouble." Lilith scrambled to get out of the sheets and out to the back door., eventually making it back to her cabin.

Percy greeted her when she walked inside. "Whoa, I just thought you were sleeping. And you are still in the same clothes from yesterday." She struggled to come up with an excuse. "I was too lazy to change last night and I forgot to grab my clothes. " _Please let him believe, please let him believe _Lilith thought to herself.

"Oh, then go ahead. I should have known you weren't the type to follow rules. What was I thinking?" Percy began to head to the entrance when he looked back and said "And you better clean your space, messiest cabin gets to clean _all_ the dishes.

A look of horror shot across Lilith's face. Percy just smiled and said "I believe in you"

Lily began to sing to herself a song from her favorite movie.  
"7 A.M. time for the usual morning line up,  
Start on chores, Sleep till the floor's all clean,  
Polish and wax, do laundry, mop and shine up,  
Sweep again, and by then, its' like 7:15

And so I'll read a book, or maybe 2 or 3,  
I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery  
I'll play guitar and knit,  
and cook and basically,  
Just wonder when will my life begin"

A smile finally lit up upon her face as she began to sing. In truth, Lilith loved singing, but she was very insecure about how she sounded. Withered faces in her memories still haunt her with nasty words. The blank faces that looked back at her shot nothing but anger and rage. She never took criticism well and could never tell when people were joking.

By the time she finished cleaning her side of the room, the harpies had arrived. "Pass"

Lilith was never one to eat breakfast, and even if she did she would eat very little. She simply just gathered her things and decided to take a shower. _Man, I reek. Did Nico notice that?_ More and more thoughts about Nico began to surface unintentionally inside her mind. She didn't know it then, but that night something beautiful had bloomed inside both of them, something warm, lively and wonderful that needed protection. Something that would change both their lives, forever.


End file.
